FIRST FEMALE MANAGEMENT TEAM AT C.B.S CHARLEVILLE

A tradition going back 150 years was severed with the appointment of Ms Una Griffin as Principal to guide the fortunes of C.B.S Secondary School Charleville to succeed former Principal Maurice Keohane, who has taken up a similar post at Midleton, Co. Cork C.B.S.

Ms Griffin joins Deputy Principal Tracey Groome, who was appointed to this position in succession to Timmy O’Callaghan, who retired last June, to give the school its first ever all female management team since it was founded in 1866. For Una Griffin it was a return to Charleville as she was on the staff at the CBS from 2005 to 2012 when she left to take up the position of Deputy Principal at St. Mary’s Secondary School in Mallow.

“I look forward to working with the staff, board of management, students and parents of CBS Charleville in supporting the education of our students. It is a privilege to take up the role of Principal in such a fine school with a long tradition in the town. I will continue to build on the hard work and dedication to education established by the Christian Brothers in Charleville and that continues under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools trust,” said Ms Griffin, who is a native of Cork City.

Both ladies come well qualified to their respective positions as Ms Griffin holds a BA Degree (1998) and Higher Diploma in Education (1999) as well as a Master’s in Education from UCC (2002), a Postgraduate Diploma in School Planning from NUIG in 2007 and Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership from NUIM in 2010.

Tracy Groome, prior to coming to Charleville to replace Deputy-Principal Timmy O’Callaghan following his retirement, was a member of the teaching staff in De La Salle School Macroom from 2001 to 2016. She also served a 3 year secondment to Waterford School Completion Project with DES. She holds a Post graduate Diploma in Cooperative Learning from TCD and a Master’s in Educational Leadership also from TCD.

The Irish Christian Brothers first came to Charleville in 1866 when they were invited to the town by the then parish priest Very Rev. Fr. T.W. Croke in 1846. The school was built with money donated by local people and took two years to build. It opened with a staff of four Christian Brothers to accept pupils on the 4th April 1866 when over 200 boys enrolled on the first day.

Over the years CBS Secondary School Charleville has acquired a deserved reputation as a centre for consistent academic excellence claiming many famous personages as past alumni, including former founder of the Fianna Fail Party, Taoiseach and President of Ireland Eamon de Valera, Dr. Michael Mortell, former President of University College Cork, to mention but two. Today the school has 325 students and a staff of 27.